A Nudge in the right direction
by L'ottavo Horcrux
Summary: Sometimes all one needs is a cup of tea with one's mother to realise what was always there.    One shot.


A Nudge in the right direction

Lily Luna Potter had just gotten the job at Witch Weekly that she'd been aiming to get for as long as she can remember, so, like any other nineteen year old she rushed to tell the first person she could think of. Within minutes she was walking up the familiar path of her old family home in Godric's Hallow, with the intention of telling her mum. Who else would be pleased enough that they'd talk about it for a while, besides, it'd been a while since she'd seen Ginny. Now was the perfect excuse to do so.

She knocked on the door before she let herself in, "Hello... Mum, dad?" Lily walked into the kitchen, and hung her coat up on the hooks, followed by her scarf as she heard her mum come into the room.

"Lily! Where have you been? You've been gone far too long! How are you keeping?" Ginny didn't give her daughter chance to reply before she'd pulled her into a hug.

Lily laughed as she wrapped her arms around Ginny, "Hello to you, too. Mum... You're squishing my ribs." She coughed and wriggled in the grasp until she was able to break out of the hug, "I'm fine, everything is fine. How are you and dad?"

"Oh, we're fine, so are Albus and Alice, did you know they got in engaged?" Ginny asked with a bright smile, of course she was proud of her son getting engaged to a Longbottom, especially such a nice girl.

"Yeah, he told me yesterday." Lily, quite frankly, was sick of hearing about it, sure she was happy but Alice was her best friend and it was odd, to say the least knowing your best friend was going to your sister-in-law, though she was glad they'd found one another. She moved around the kitchen and went straight for the kettle, pointing her wand at it; which made steam come from it. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

Ginny nodded as she set the washing going and passed her daughter two cups from the correct cupboard, while she did something else, Lily made the cups of tea then turned to give on to her a mum with a smile. They then moved into the living room and Ginny took her usual seat which was angled so she could see the whole living room. Sitting opposite the older woman, Lily blew on the contents in her cup before she sipped at it.

"Lily, dear, why are you here? Not that I don't love your company, but I wasn't expecting you, if I was; I would have made your dad come home early."

Lily looked up at her mum, "That wasn't necessary, there's no reason. Well, I got the job but there's nothing more."

Ginny nodded slowly, "Well then, you're always welc- You got the job? Well done! When do you start?"

A laugh escaped from Lily's lips as she looked at Ginny with a bright smile, "Yes. I start on Monday next week." To hide her smile she sipped at her tea again, now that she was able to get the news out, she felt much better.

"That's excellent news, dear." Ginny started then she took a sip of her own drink, before she raised a curious brow at her daughter; of course, with one son married and the other engaged, she was curious about what was happening in Lily's life. Her tone, however, was kept neutral, "Who are you dating now? I liked Lorcan."

Lily shrugged in response, "I broke up with him a few weeks after we started being a couple; I couldn't shake the feeling he was like another brother and... I didn't feel like that for him." Another brother? Story of her life, of course Aunt Luna's child would feel like her brother, but Lorcan was good-looking, he was smart and was sweet and he'd had a soft spot for Lily for as long as they could both remember. Alas, they were not meant to be and he moved on with non-other than Dominique Weasley. She smiled weakly as she sipped her tea before looking up at her mum, "None of them compare to _him_."

Ginny's brow furrowed -him- of course. It all boiled down to that one boy. She knew who her daughter meant, it was far too obvious, but she wanted to hear it, "Him?"

"You know exactly who I mean."

"How long is it since you last saw him?"

Lily shrugged a shoulder, "He was at Al's the other day. Something about work. We... we spoke a little, it was awkward."

A smile tugged at Ginny's lips as she remembered the first time her daughter had spoken about the boy- the man- in question, the smile that had been evident on the young girl's face, "Who would have thought it. You and him, I mean." She hid her amusement behind her cup, eyeing Lily as she did so.

"Hm, Malfoy.. Scorpius... The holy blonde twat- excuse my language." She stared into the dregs of her tea, "I love him... I actually love Scorpius Malfoy." Her brow furrowed as she stared blankly into the cup, remembering all of her times spent with the blonde boy, then they'd just broken up.. No... "I never stopped, you know? I never told him... Not once, but I do. More than anything." She looked up quickly, staring at Ginny, "You don't happen to know..."

An innocent expression flitted across her face but a smirk played at the edges of her lips, "Through the grapevine... He's single."

Lily's eyes lit up as she glanced at the clock on the mantel piece, daddy had always hated it but mum said it was an heirloom. Completely hideous in Lily's view, she then turned to Ginny, "I have something to do."

"You do what you have to do, sweetheart. I'll see you soon." Ginny smiled as she watched her youngest child stand, Lily dropped a kiss to her mum's cheek before she near ran from the house, through the garden and jumped over the gate at the end of the garden and apparated just beyond the wards to the road she knew he worked on.

Please be there, please be there.

Reappearing in the empty road and sighed as she caught her breath, glancing around she saw the door of the building, she took a deep breath and ran her hand through her deep auburn locks before she walked through the door. The sound of a tinkling sounded from above the door and she kept her head down, moving to an aisle which held potions from A-C. She moved quickly, forming a plan as she grabbed the closest potion- which just so happened to be "Amortentia" before she moved to the till. She bit on her lip when she heard someone approach; only letting her head tip up when she heard his familiar voice. She'd heard him so many times, be it in contempt, concern, whether his tone was soft and calming or deep, husky and in the throes of passion.

She smiled softly as she took in his familiar features, he didn't look much different to what he had so many years ago, "Good afternoon to you too."

Scorpius blinked what the fuck? Was he seeing things? "...Potter?"

Lily brushed a hand through her hair, poofing it up and pushing it to the side as she did so, "The one and only."

"Long time no see." His lips tugged up at the edges; of course it had only been a few days since they'd seen each other. He turned his eyes to the potion bottle and quirked a brow, "Amortentia..? Really? Who are you trying to ensnare, Miss Potter?"

Lily shrugged as her courage ebbed away, was she really going to do this? She gathered up all of her 'inner-Gryffindor', "Well, that's the thing, Mister Malfoy. I have an issue." She sighed heavily, making her actions far too over-the-top.

"That seems to be a big problem. Is there any way that I can aid you today, Miss Potter?"

"Well, you could. If you're willing to that's it." Lily placed her hands upon the wooden table in front of her as she looked up at the blonde, dear Merlin, he looked perfect. Not one flaw etched upon his face.

Scorpius' brows quirked upwards, "I am always willing to help you, in any way that I can."

"I have three questions, maybe four; all depending on the answers you give me are you willing to help me still?"

Scorpius nodded once, "I'm **always **willing, Potter." He moved around the table slowly, his gaze never moving from her, just as she never removed hers from him.

"First question, what's the one thing everything forgets but you know? You've always seemed to know."

His lips twitched, "You mean that you love apples but hate apple juice?"

Lily nodded once as she pursed her lips in thought, "Question number two, do you still care?"

"Of course, I'll never not care." He spoke carefully, not sure where this was going, he was in two minds, he knew this was typical Lily, never conventional, he moved closer to her, like always, he wanted to be able to reach to touch her. With only a moment's deliberation he stroked his fingers across her cheek bone before he cupped her cheek, in a gentle gesture.

She tipped her head into his touch, oh dear Merlin, how she'd missed him, his simplest of touches, she just wanted more, "Three, are you single?"

A soft chuckle broke through his lips as he nodded once, "Yes, I'm single."

Lily looked at the button of his shirt in direct contact with her eyes as she bowed her head to hide her smile, she looked up at him through her lashes, slowly moving her head up to see him. Her hazel gaze locked with his steely grey, "One more." Her voice had dropped to only above a whisper.

Scorpius had moved closer, his head closer to her as he tipped her head up gently from her chin, "Pray do tell, Little Potter."

Her voice was now a mere whisper, a soft brush of air across his lips which were far too close to her own, "Kiss me?"

He smirked, the breath behind his words caressing her lips as he replied, "I thought you would never ask." She couldn't reply for his lips had then descended upon hers and had claimed her into a possessively fierce kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck and his laced around her waist, drawing her flush against him, finally, she felt right. She was right where she wanted to be. For him, he finally had the girl he'd always wanted back in his arms, this moment, they thought, was theirs alone.

Alas, they never did see several set of eyes peering through the window of the shop or the people all high five for finally getting Scorpius and Lily back together, because everyone knows... Nothing would get to Draco Malfoy more than knowing he would have a ginger in the family; regardless of the fact that he approved of "the Potter girl" more than he should for who she was. For once, maybe old school-boy rivalries could be put to bed and people could move on, maybe, they could grow... together.


End file.
